1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to the field of clothing accessories. More specifically, this invention comprises a gripping device worn on a wearer's shirt to provide the wearer with assistance when gripping objects.
2. Description of the Related Art.
Various accessories have been created that are worn by a wearer in order to assist the wearer in gripping various objects. Gloves are one example of this type of accessory. Various types of gloves exist to serve various applications. One common type of glove is a work glove. Work gloves are designed principally to protect the wearer's hands while the wearer is engaged in handling rough objects. Work gloves are commonly made of leather, canvas, or some other durable material.
Bartending gloves and gloves for opening bottles are examples of gloves designed for specific gripping applications. These gloves are designed specifically for gripping bottle tops in order to remove the bottle top from the bottle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,238 to Crafts; U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,866 to Walker; U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,233 to Erwin; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,922 to Floyd, Jr. are examples of gloves designed for this application.
Other accessories have been designed to be worn by a wearer for opening bottles and containers besides gloves. One example is an opener designed to be worn as a ring on the wearer's finger. An example of a ring opener is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,414 B1 to Brailsford et al. Another example is a gripping device worn between a wearer's thumb and index finger. An example of such a gripping device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,297 to Grubich. Still another example is a bottle opening device designed to be worn on the wearer's wrist like a wrist watch. An example of this type of bottle opening devices is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,497 to Larose.
These gripping assistive devices have their drawbacks, however. Devices worn on or around the wearer's hands often get in the way or are uncomfortable when they are not in use. Furthermore, removing these devices defeats their purpose in that the purpose of wearing these gripping assistive devices is for the devices to be ready and available for use when needed.
It is therefore desirable to provide a gripping assistive device that is convenient and easy to use but does not get in the user's way when not in use.